Made of Stars
by Beckykins
Summary: Post 01.08 Alex is struggling with the death of her parents. Can a meteor shower help?


He was worried about her. It had been two weeks since the Price's car exploded and Alex had been unusually quiet ever since. Just today she hadn't even chastised him for punching a suspect. It was so unlike her and nothing he did or said seemed to cheer her up. Not even when he'd tried to be nice to her (he didn't shout or make a sexist comment for an entire day, an *entire day,* did she not understand how much it pained him to be that... nice?) did it seem to make her better or happier. In fact, it seemed to make the whole situation worse.

On Friday night at six, Gene declared it was 'beer o'clock.' He watched his officers grab their coats and bolt for the door. All except his DI of course. She was still scribbling away at a report from today's armed robbery in Whitechapel.

"Bolly?"

She hadn't joined them at Luigi's in weeks, ever since Shaz's homecoming party actually.

"You coming?" he asked her.

When she shook her head his heart sunk, just a little.

"Can't. Meteor shower at 6:32."

"What?"

"Shooting stars. Tonight." She still didn't look up, still writing. "I thought I might go up on the roof and watch."

Gene felt bitterly disappointed, he was missing her, strange as it was the miss her constant chatter. "Right. Suit yourself." He stalked out of CID, angry. Why couldn't she just get over it? It wasn't as if she'd known the Price's well or they'd even been nice people. Lighting a cigarette as soon as he was outside he resigned himself to stand on the steps, brooding. About ten minutes later, he watched as Alex climbed the fire escape up to the roof and he made the split second decision to follow.

For a while, he watched her leaning against the metal railing and stargazing. He noticed she'd lost a lot of weight in the past few weeks. She was still gorgeous in his eyes though. He just wished she'd talk to him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to jump," she said, not turning around and startling him at the sound of her voice.

He walked over to her and joined her at the railing. "Didn't even cross my mind."

"Right."

There was a moment's silence. "Just wanted to see what all this meteorite fuss was about."

"It's meteor," she corrected him. "It's only a meteorite if it hits the ground."

He wanted to smile, seeing just that little spark again in her eyes, if only for a second.

"Well I never saw one of these meteor things," he told her. "You?"

"A few times, mostly when I spent summers in Spain with my Godfather."

"All summer? Where were your parents?"

"They died in a car bomb."

That hit him like a tonne of bricks. And it explained a lot. Why she was so cut up, why all this had torn her apart inside.

"I'm sorry, Alex, I didn't know."

She jumped at the use of her name. He'd called her 'Alex' twice? Maybe three times since she'd been in 1981. She shrugged and shivered a little in the late October air. Her white leather jacket was clearly insubstantial against weather that approached Halloween. She found herself wondering what Molly would be dressing as this year: a pumpkin? A vampire, maybe... She was so lost in thought she didn't notice Gene shrugging off his coat and draping it around her shoulders, earning him a grateful smile.

He swallowed, wondering if he should tell her, not normally so forthcoming with his feelings. "I hate seeing you cold. Since Chas Cale... I can't stand seeing you shiver." Suddenly he felt awkward. "You wanna talk about it? Your parents, I mean..."

"No." She was surprised to be seeing this side to him. He could be so gentle and kind sometimes when they were alone.

"You should've told me."

"I did."

"Sooner." He looked at her and couldn't stand the thought of her tormented and hurting, it figuratively cut him up inside.

"I'll try harder, promise." Alex shook again and found Gene Hunt's arm around her.

"I told you, I can't stand seeing you shake like a nervous greyhound." He reached into his coat pocket and found his hip flask. "Here. Get some of this down you." He unscrewed the cap and handed her the bottle. She took a sip before handing it back to him. His arm hadn't moved. "You need a better coat, Bolly. In fact you need to start taking better care of yourself, full stop."

She nodded. Maybe if she was staying it would be wise to invest in some warmer clothes for the winter, maybe some pyjamas instead of sleeping in Gene's shirts...

Suddenly a flash of light sparked across the sky. In an instant it was gone.

"Was that one?" Gene asked, his hand tightening its grip on her shoulder.

She nodded, watching as another star fell, actually smiling.

Gene loved to see her happy. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted, her just telling him about her parents. Instead of watching the sky, he watched her: her smile, her little laugh, her eyes lighting up.

After five minutes, the shower was over. She finally turned to him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She shrugged off his coat, feeling warmer. "Being here." As she handed him back his jacket she pressed a kiss to his cheek. He touched the spot, his skin tingling where her lips had been.

"Luigi's?" he asked, hoping she'd say 'yes.'

She smiled. "Yes... Luigi's."


End file.
